Friday, April 26, 2013

Jaggie, here. I'm sneaking in a bit early with step #3. It's supposed to be posted tomorrow, but I thought, what the heck, Veronica is busy at the show, she'll never know. So, shhhhhhhhhh, don't tell...

Step #3 is easy. Using your 3" x 5 1/2" rectangles (background) fabric and your 3" x 3" medium squares make 48 flying geese. I like the way Janet Wickell makes hers, so here is a picture from Quilting.About.com.

Thanks Janet!

Note: Jaggie and Veronica uploaded the photo while on the road, but there appears to be a technical issue. I will try to get a copy of the photo and upload again. Thanks for your patience. {Michelle}

Monday, April 22, 2013

Hello all! I hope you've had a chance to finish Step 1 of the Mystery Quilt! It took me a few days, but I finally got all of the fabric cut for the first post.

To be honest, this is the first quilt in a long time. Shortly before my baby was born ("the grandson") and I was able to do some projects when he was in the play area or napping, but when he hit the "mobile" stage and started terrorizing the pup, I had less time and stuck more to stitching and needlework, projects that I could pick up or set down on a moment's notice.

Now, I have a very active 3-year-old, who lives by the motto, "let me do it Mommy", and I'm not sure I want to introduce him to rotary cutters and sewing machines before he is old enough to go to college!

But I decided that a mystery quilt would be the perfect, step-by-step, project that would give me small goals in set time periods and then maybe I wouldn't overwhelm myself.

So this past week, we focused on cutting ... did you cut your fabrics?

I have to say, cutting for me is the most enjoyable part. I know you'd think it was the part when you are sewing and watching it come together, or when you complete it and see your goal accomplished, but think about it. At the cutting stage, you are the one point where the possibilities are endless. You stand there at the cutting table, rotary in hand and a stack of fresh, new fabric ready to be molded into some peice of history. Yes, history. Something that you created with your own hands, that is ready to create a million memories as you share it with friends and family who come to your home, and when you pass it from one generation to the next.

When I was pregnant, all I wanted was to use quilts and afghans made by my mother, grandmother or great grandmother, because that was a time when every moment could make a new memory. The first kick, the first turn, the tangle of your feet in a blanket when you try to rush to the bathroom with morning sickness. (So they were not all good memories ... UGH! Morning sickness!)

My husband was in the military and we were on the opposite side of the country from both of our families. Those quilts and afghans were the only link to them sometimes.

So every time I stand there ready to cut fabric, I imagine all the moments that could turn into memories. so, this week was the birth of a witness to many memories yet to be made.

What is your favorite quilt memory? I bet you have a few just bubbling at the edge of your heart ...

Saturday, April 20, 2013

You will need to make 96 half square triangles using the background fabric and accent #2. They should finish at 2 1/2".

There are many different ways to make them, so just use your favorite method, I'm using the "paper method" that Brenda Henning uses from her Triangulations 2.0 or 3.0.

Remember, you have until midnight tonight, Saturday April 20th to send us your pictures of your cut fabric from Step #1 for this drawing. Send pictures to our facebook page, you can click on the tab at the top of our blog page to get there.

See you next Saturday, I'll be sending step #3 from the quilt show in Paducah.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Jaggie here, I just wanted to show you what Veronica's fabric look like.

Here is my fabric.

What do you think? Don't I look handsome? Oh, yeah, and aren't the fabrics great? This one is the fabric that Quilting Treasures just sent me. It is available in stores right now! I'm looking forward to seeing your fabrics as well. Don't forget, you have till Saturday to be eligible for the drawing.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Hi all! It's Michelle here. Jaggie walked away from the computer so I took over because I am really excited. As you can imagine, as Veronica's daughter, I have been doing some sort of sewing craft since I was old enough to hold a needle, and in all that time there are still some items on my "craft bucket list" that I have yet to do ... One of the items on the list is a mystery quilt.

Now, it's not that I haven't done a mystery quilt before, but it hasn't been much of a mystery since I was helping from a staff point of view. So now that Jaggie has found the quilt and started to post to the blog, I thought I'd do it from your opting of view!

I must say, I am very excited! I've chosen (most) of my fabric and will be joining you on this mystery journey. While Jaggie will be helping me at times (because he is such a helpful bear), he and Veronica have been instructed not to give me any more information than you have.

I'll post pictures along the way, and hope you will share your photos as well on our Facebook page. Jaggie has given my fabric a hug and wished me luck on getting it done with a toddler in the house, so let the fun begin! Happy stitching!

Our love and prayers go out to everyone in Boston and the state of Mass. today. We love Mass. and until the last few years have spent a week several times a year there with our friend Popcorn and his family at Quilting Treasures.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

HI, Jaggie here. I found the Mystery Quilt and I'm sharing it with you. First of all I want to thank Quilting Treasures, they sent me the fabric for my quilt. I LOVE them, they are the best!!! You know they have my friend Popcorn, he's a bear, too. He has his own fabric line, so I'm sure mine will be next!

First of all, you'll need 1 yd of your main or focus fabric. I'm using a chunky flower fabric.

You'll need 1 3/4 yds of background. I'm gonna use cream. Yummy, cream. I might need some berries to go with that. Oh, sorry, back to the quilt.

3/4 yd of accent #1 I'm using red.

2/3 yd of accent #2, mine is a light turquoise

and 1 1/2 yds. of medium. I've got another turquoise.

For your borders, you'll need 1/2 yd and 1 yd.

I'm so excited!!! I hope you are too.

Now, I'm going to give you step 1 on the cutting instructions. Remember that I want to see what you picked for your fabric and if you send me a picture on our facebook page, you'll be entered in a drawing for a pattern and a T-shirt. I'll give those away next Saturday. Ok, let's go cut...

From focus fabric cut 12 squares, they need to be 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"

and cut 48 squares 3" x 3".

From your background cut 48 squares 3" x 3"

and cut 48 rectangles 3" x 5 1/2".

From accent #1 cut cut 96 3"x 3" squares.

From medium fabric cut 48 rectangles 3" x 5 1/2"

and cut 96 squares 3" x 3".

This bear is off to play in fabric. See you next Saturday for part 2. Remember, send me your pictures.

Oh, geeeeeeeeez, I forgot to tell you, the quilt will be 51 " x 66" when finished.

Jaggie here, I have been trying to find the mystery quilt everyone in the office is talking about. It's not in the silver teaset, it's not in the dishwasher, it's not behind the sofa ... Check back tomorrow when we reveal this fun new project!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

So we went to Puyallup the last week of February and was there through the first week of March. We had such a good time, it was a great show. Not as many people as there have been in the past, but we had fun with those who were there. We flew Brenda Henning from Alaska to demo her Strip Therapy books. Brenda is the owner of Bear Paw Productions, so of course I thought she was bringing another bear to join the party, but alas, she did not. Brenda has 10 books out, with a new one due at Quilt Market in May. Brenda taught us some great tips using 2 1/2" strips. You should check out her website, www.bearpawproductions.com. She made us a few tops while she was in the booth sewing. We've got all of her books that we'll be bringing to the shows to sell. We used Anthology strips, we took tons of them to the show and sold almost all of them. I really love batiks and wrapped myself up in them one night. They were yummy.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Jaggie says what an awesome group of ladies the Character Quilters are. Veronica went on a retreat this past weekend and sold 188 spools of thread and the proceeds were donated to a fund raiser that her grandson is doing for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Also we want to thank Robison-Anton and YLI for donating the thread. We are so lucky to be able to help. He is riding in a Trike-a-Thon on April 19th to raise even more money and I'm going along on my trike. We'll post pictures of this bear "triking for kids". If you'd like to sponsor this bear e-mail us to learn how you can donate, or check out this St. Jude's Donation Page to donate to a group in your community

Monday, April 8, 2013

HI Jaggie here. I went to Bend, Oregon to spend a week with Mattie of Quiltsmart and work on some projects. They moved the business back on Halloween last year, so this was our first trip to visit here there. We saw her often when she lived in Minnesota, Veronica has twin nephews in Minnesota, so we were there a lot. We had a great time sewing and relaxing. We'd had a tiring week before we went to Bend, we were in Puyallup, Washington for a show. So Oregon was very relaxing. It snowed one day, but it wasn't bone chilling cold.

We had a family of three deer come into the backyard one afternoon, it was great. We were able to get to about 20 feet of them. Veronica got some great pictures. I, of course kept looking for bears, but it seems I was the only one there.

We're going back to Oregon in July for the Oregon Summer Quilt Show, I hope some of you come to see us. Veronica will be teaching and of course doing demos in the booth. It is the same weekend as the Sisters Quilt Show. It starts on Thursday and ends on Sunday. Saturday you can park your car and take a bus from the parking lot at the show over to Sisters, come back to visit and shop with us. We'll give you updates as the show gets closer, but go ahead and plan to come on up to Oregon for a visit. See ya'll soon.

Who is Jaggie the Bear?

Jaggie the Bear is the namesake of Bear Thread Designs, Inc. He fancies himself a bit of a detective, looking for new and exciting ways to get a little "retail therapy" when it comes to all things crafty! He is named for Veronica, the BTD owner's two grandchildren, who are the recipients of many of her quilts.

Jaggie, a fearless adventurer, often finds himself up to his "fluff" in trouble as he searches out new and exciting ways to get crafty! His "just the bear facts, ma'am" attitude can get him into some steamy situations, but he'll keep you in stitches with his travels and adventures ...

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